Indiscipline and Its Effect on Children’s Academic Performance in Primary Schools
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this research therefore is as follows: To know
- The extent to which home background/socio-economic status influence discipline in schools.
- The influence of peer-groups on discipline of primary school pupils.
- The extent to which the pressure on paper qualification influences school discipline.
- Whether societal morals have significant influence on school discipline.
- School administration has great influence on school discipline.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Meaning of Indiscipline
Asiyai (2012) posited that education is a critical tool for the transformation of the individual and the society. Secondary education in Nigeria therefore is aimed at preparing the individual for useful living within the society and preparation for higher education. And for the individual to be able to live a useful life in his society and contribute maximally towards socio-economic and political development of the nation in which he/she belongs, relevant skills, values, attitudes, knowledge and competencies that will make him to be disciplined must be impacted. Hence, what is INDISCIPLINE? The term “indiscipline” is a household word in Nigeria today. In fact, it is a word that is found in government offices, private sectors, in politics and in all levels of educational institutions. The trend in secondary schools in the present time is indiscipline of all sorts. The trouble with the term is that every individual may know what they mean when they talk about it, but individual meanings can still differ in a sense, therefore, we will at this juncture present some of the meaning giving to the term by scholar in Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 261 (1995) who also define indiscipline as unruly acts and behaviours, acts of lawlessness and disobedience to school rules and regulation. It can be summarized that indiscipline is any form of misbehaviours which the student(s) can display in the following ways: general disobedient to constituted authority, destruction of school property, poor attitude to learning, abuse of seniority, immoral behaviour, drug abuse, stealing, lateness, truancy, dirtiness quarrelsome, use of abusive or foul languages, rudeness, gangstarism or cultism e.t.c. as the forms of indiscipline in schools are inexhaustible. Timothy (2008) further stated that indiscipline can be said to be the unwillingness of students to respect the constituted authority, observe and obey school rules and regulations and to maintain high standard of behaviours conducive to teaching learning process and essential to the smooth running of the school to achieve the educational objective with ease. In addition, indiscipline is also defined according to Akindiji (1996:5) adapted from Nwakoby (2001: 12) as “an act of misconduct which not only physical act but could also be a thing of the mind”. The above definition presupposes that indiscipline is an act of wrong doing and which must not necessarily be seen from a student’s action but the mood of such student could be interpreted as an act of indiscipline or misconduct. Achebe (1984: 27) on his part defined indiscipline as “a disregard to lay down standards of behaviours, rules and regulations of a social system”. From this assertion therefore, it could be said that indiscipline is negligence of norms and cultures of a social system.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
The procedure used in carrying out this project work was based on the following outline:
Research Design
The study aimed at investigating the causes or effects of indiscipline among primary school pupil. The data for the study was collected through the adoption of questionnaire instrument. The study was essentially a survey research design.
Population
The population is a finite population, which comprised of all the Primary School Pupil in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
This chapter of the research provides the data collected from the respondents. It shows the questions in the questionnaire form that are related to each research hypothesis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY
This research project is designed to investigate the causes of indiscipline in primary schools. The indiscipline among primary school pupil manifested itself in many forms, viz violent demonstrations which has often led to destruction of school properties, abuse of fellow pupil, stealing and cheating at examinations, disregard to authorities, etc. The fieldwork of project was carried out in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo State.
The five hypotheses used touched on the following assumptions:
- Home Background/socio-economic status has influence on pupil’ discipline.
- Peer group influence on pupil’ discipline
- Poor morals influence on pupil’ discipline
- Much importance attached to paper qualifications.
- Societal emphasis on paper qualifications.
The total populations of the schools sampled were one hundred (100). That is twenty from each school, the number of pupil were made up of 39 males and 61 females. The main instrument used for the study was the questionnaire. The instrument used to collect the data touched on the five hypotheses raised. Beside the fourteen questions on the questionnaire, there were others which asked about sex, age, marital status and educational status.
CONCLUSION
The causal factors of acts of indiscipline in our primary schools were so varied that research of this nature, which covered such a small area like Igueben Local Government Area could not claim to be exhaustive.
However, efforts were made to direct attention to some of the factors that aggravated the acts of indiscipline in primary schools. The factors had been looked at from different view points. Prominent among these included home background, socio-economic, peer group, poor moral influence and societal emphasis on paper qualification.
From the data collected and analyzed, it became evident that all of them influenced discipline in school though in negative form.
The highlight of the whole exercise lies on the much importance attached to paper qualification. This reveals that 60% of the respondents maintained many of the pupil cheat at examination to get the high grade required by W.A.E.C. and institutions of higher learning. If the examinations system is abolished in our primary schools and continuous assessment of pupil performances considered, no pupil would be tempted to cheat at examinations.
It is justifiable to conclude that though many factors are responsible for indiscipline among primary school pupil but the root causes was the much importance attached to paper qualifications in our primary school system.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The major causes of indiscipline among primary school pupil have been exposed, it envisaged that the following recommendations will enable government and the society in general to minimize or eradicate indiscipline in schools. Based on the outcome of this research, the following suggestions are put forward:
- The system of education should be remodeled to meet the needs of the individuals in the society and the nation. Therefore, self-reliance education starting from the primary school level; vocational courses, like building, carpentry, sewing, electrical and mechanical works, music, should start from primary level and be developed to higher level of education. This will enable holders of primary school certificate and West African School Certificate fit in properly in different aspects of occupation in the society. This will also help to improve to some extent the socio-economic status of the people.
- Both home and school should endeavour to co-operate in training of the child. The schools cannot operate in isolation, therefore, when dealing with pupil’ problem, the school needs the support of parents. The school is a part of the society, what happens in the school must reflect the societal norms. This in essence, means that if the society is discipline there will be less disciplinary problem in the schools.
- There should be in existence a democratic style of school administration. The school administrators should be transparent in their administration. The school prefect should be involved in the administration of the school. The principals should avoid an authoritarian style of school management. There must exist in schools Parents-Teacher Association (PTA). The PTA must be involved in the administration of schools. PTA meeting will enhance the opportunity for parents and teacher to ensure high discipline among pupil.
- The government through its Ministry of Education should always make available funds, and human resources. teachers’ salaries should be paid regularly to enhance effective teaching and learning. Mid-day meals should be provided in schools to enable both the pupil and teachers accomplish the task of learning and teaching in our schools.
- Communication: There must be enough communication between the school and the pupil. School administrators must always keep the teachers and pupil well informed of the recent news. This will help to remove rumours, which is associated with indiscipline acts. Every complaint should be properly attended or looked into.
- The members of staff should exhibit mutual cooperation among themselves. They should avoid presenting conflicting standards to their pupil.
Finally, the teacher should realize that the future of this country is in their hands, whether the society recognizes this or not. Therefore, co-operation, honesty, dedication and decency is recommended. If these points are considered, it can help to eradicate disciplinary problem in our primary schools.
REFERENCES
- Aghenta, J.A. (1976). The need for effective leadership in our post-primary school education. Ibadan: Imprint Press.
- Brigadier, D. J. (1976). Highly desirable quality of human being or social group. British National Tabloid newspaper. Britain: University Press.
- Hirst, P.H. and Peter, R.S. (1970). Logic of Education. London: University Press.
- Olorutimehim, P. (1974). A combination of factors existing with the family that result to juvenile delinquency. Family Journal, Vol. 18(2), p. 69.
- Ozigi, A.O. (1978). A hand book on schools administration and management. London: Macmillan Education Limited.
